THE HUNTER. 
585 
Arabian, had his little friend in the shape of a lamb, which would take any liberties with him, 
and was accustomed to butt at the flies as they came too near his strange ally. The Godol- 
phin Arabian was also strongly attached to a cat, which usually sat on his back, or nestled in 
the manger. When he died, the cat pined away and soon followed her loved friend. 
These examples are sufficient to show that the ferocity of these animals was caused by the 
neglect or ignorance of their human associates, who either did not know how to arouse the 
affectionate feelings of the animal, or brutally despised and crushed them. The Horse is a 
much more intellectual animal than is generally supposed, as will be acknowledged by any 
one who has possessed a favorite Horse, and treated it with uniform kindness. 
There is no need for whip or spur when the rider and steed understand each other, and the 
bridle is reduced almost to a mere form, as the touch of a finger, or the tone of a voice, are 
sufficient to direct the animal. We are all familiar with the elephantine dray-horses that march 
so majestically along with their load of casks, and which instantaneously obey the singular 
sounds which continually issue from the throats of their conductors, and back, stop, advance 
or turn to the right or left, without requiring the touch of a rein or the blow of a whip. The 
infliction of pain is a clumsy and barbarous manner of guiding a Horse, and we shall never 
reap the full value of the animal until we have learned to respect its feelings, and to shun the 
infliction of torture as a brutal, a cowardly, and an unnecessary act. To maltreat a child is 
always held to be a cowardly and unmanly act, and it is equally cowardly and unworthy of the 
human character to maltreat a poor animal which has no possibilty of revenge, no hope of 
redress, and no words to make its wrongs known. Pain is pain, whether inflicted on man or 
beast, and we are equally responsible in either case. 
As an unprejudiced observer, with no purpose to serve, and without bias in either direc- 
tion, I cannot here refrain from observing, that Mr. Rarey’s method of bringing the Horse 
under subjection is a considerable step in the right direction, and a very great improvement on 
the cruel and savage method which is so often employed by coarse and ignorant men, and truly 
called “ breaking.” Having repeatedly witnessed the successful operations of that gentleman, 
in subduing Horses that had previously defied all efforts, I cannot be persuaded that it is a 
cruel process. The method by which it is achieved is now sufficiently familiar, and I will 
only observe, that the idea, is a true and philosophical one. The Horse is mostly fierce because 
it is nervous, and bites and kicks, not because it is enraged, but because it is alarmed. Restore 
confidence, and the creature becomes quiet, without any desire to use its hoofs and teeth in an 
aggressive manner. It is clearly impossible to do so as long as the animal is at liberty to 
annihilate its teacher, and the strap is only used until the Horse is convinced that the presence 
of a human form, or the touch of a human hand, has nothing of the terrible in it. Confidence 
soon takes the place of fear, and the animal seems to receive its teacher at once into its good 
graces, following him like a dog, and rubbing its nose against his shoulder. 
The ingenuity of the Horse is very considerable, and the creature will voluntarily perform 
acts that display a considerable amount of intellect. From a number of anecdotes relating to 
the intellectual powers of the Horse, I select the following, some of them entirely original, and 
others very little known. 
An orchard had been repeatedly stripped of its best and ripest fruit, and the marauders 
had laid their plans so cunningly that the strictest vigilance could not detect them. At last 
the depredators were discovered to be a. mare and her colt which were turned out to graze 
among the trees. The mare was seen to go up to one of the apple-trees and to throw herself 
against the trunk so violently that a shower of ripe apples came tumbling down. She and her 
offspring then ate the fallen apples, and the same process was repeated at another tree. 
Another mare had discovered the secret of the water-butt, and whenever she was thirsty, was 
accustomed to go to the butt, turn the tap with her teeth, drink until her thirst was satisfied, 
and then to close the tap again. I have heard of two animals which performed this feat, but 
one of them was not clever enough to turn the tap back again, and used to let all the water 
run to waste. 
A careless groom was ordered to prepare a mash for one of the Horses placed under his 
care, and after making a thin, unsatisfactory mixture, he hastily threw a quantity of chaff on 
